Obama intervenes in Philadelphia rail strike

A SEPTA regional train, the R7, rolls into 30th Street station in Philadelphia in this Nov. 16, 2004 file photo. Four hundred workers at a Philadelphia-area regional rail system went on strike Saturday morning June 14, 2014, shutting down 13 train lines that carry commuters to the suburbs and Philadelphia International Airport. Subways, trolleys and buses operated by SEPTA will continue to run. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma, File)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday intervened in a commuter rail strike in the nation’s sixth-largest metropolitan area, granting Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s request to create a presidential emergency board to mediate the contract dispute between the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and its engineers and electricians unions.

Obama ordered the establishment of the three-member board effective at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. He called for “a swift and smooth resolution” of the dispute.

Workers will have to return to the job when the board goes into effect after midnight, however SEPTA said it would take eight to 10 hours to restore service. They don’t have to resume direct talks with each other, but they do have to participate with the board’s process, which typically involves written submissions and hearings.

More than 400 workers went on strike at midnight, and no talks were scheduled over the weekend.

Obama is giving the board 30 days to deliver a report recommending how the dispute should be resolved.

“The people of Philadelphia and the surrounding region expect and deserve a safe and efficient rail system to get them to work, medical appointments, school and recreation,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “I call on both parties to work together, find common ground and place the riders at the forefront of mind in their discussions.”

The unions said they would comply with the law, but said the strike is designed to force SEPTA to agree to their demands or accept binding arbitration. Workers are seeking raises of at least 14.5 percent over five years — or about 3 percentage points more than SEPTA has offered.

“Yes, the strike is worth it. It’s our intention to encourage SEPTA to make a reasonable settlement,” Stephen Bruno, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said at an afternoon news conference.

The move shut down 13 train lines that carry commuters from Philadelphia to the suburbs, Philadelphia International Airport and New Jersey. The agency’s subways, trolleys and buses continue to run.

“My head’s going to hurt by the end of this day,” said volunteer Rusty Schwendeman of the Traveler’s Aid Society, who had helped reroute about two dozen rail travelers Saturday morning at 30th Street Station.

They often involved several connections, longer routes or a significantly higher fare on Amtrak.

Carolyn Tola, of Hamilton Square, New Jersey, and three friends paid $40 apiece to take Amtrak from central New Jersey to Philadelphia to see the Pennsylvania Ballet instead of $9 on Septa.

The strike began after negotiations between the transit agency and two unions failed to reach a new contract deal Friday. The last regional rail strike, in 1983, lasted more than three months.

The labor conflict came to a head this week after SEPTA announced it would impose a deal beginning Sunday. Terms include raising electrical workers’ pay immediately by an average of about $3 per hour; the top wage rate for locomotive engineers would rise by $2.64 per hour.

The strike adds to the commuting headaches in the region, where major construction projects are making it more difficult than usual to get around.

Drexel University dance team members Beverly and Angela Tomita, 18-year-old twins, had planned to take the airport line for a 2 p.m. flight home to Laguna Beach, California, for the summer.

“That’s so not convenient!” Angela Tomita said when she found the region rail entrance closed at 30th Street Station. Schwendeman soon directed them to a subway-and-bus route.

“They’re not the best answers, but they’re the best answers I can come up with,” Schwendeman told another teenager about her three-bus route home to suburban Blue Bell. “I don’t want to send anybody to the middle of nowhere, either.”